The Effects of Jig Color and Depth Variation on Catch Rates of Purpleback Flying Squid, Sthenoteuthis oualaniensis (Lesson, 1830) in Iranian Waters of the Oman Sea

The objective of the present study was to determine the effects of jig color and depth variations on squid catchability in Iranian waters of the Oman Sea (Bandar-e jask and Chabahar). Two different colors of jigs (green and blue) were used together in same angle. A total of 2270 (1119 Kg) squid were captured by automatic machine during the study. Purpleback Flying squid (S. oualaniensis) with 96.5% of the total catch was the dominated species and Indian squid (L. davauseli) was also found rarely. The number of 1247 (weight: 603.3 Kg) of this value was belong to green type of jig and 1023 (weight: 515.7 Kg) were caught by blue type of jig. Catch rates were calculated 5.188 Kg h-1 and 3.8 Kg h-1 for green and blue jigs, respectively. According to t-test results, wasn’t significantly difference between catch rates of squid with green and blue jigs (P > 0.05). Kolmogorov-Smirnov test proved that the size composition of dorsal mantle of caught squids didn’t differ signi?cantly between different jig colors (P > 0.05). Result of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test showed that the catch rate of squid was higher in shallower waters (P < 0.05).